Pick one thing that you want to do, and work your hardest to be the best in it.

  Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

I was born in New York City in 1977, but moved back with my family to Hong Kong at the age of four. I have since moved back to the US, and am currently living in Los Angeles, California, which is also where I graduated from Occidental College.

I started my career as a software engineer in Silicon, Valley, but soon joined Design Reactor as a Flash developer in 2000.

For the next five years, I was leading the Flash development department developing/designing interactive marketing campaigns and RIA (Rich Internet Applications) for clients, including: 20th Century Fox, ABC, AMD, Cisco Systems, Disney, HP , Sun Microsystems, and Universal Pictures.

After I moved down to Los Angeles in June, 2005, I started freelancing actively and had the opportunity to work on a couple of high profile projects, including working with ZeTools Inc. on the 2005 TV Land Award, a real-time synchronization Interactive TV program which won the Emmy Award for excellence in Interactive Television and New Media content.

I started my own company, the1stMovement, in April, 2006. We currently provide creative technology solutions to AOL, Adobe Systems, AKQA, G4TV, and Showtime, among others.

  What do you do for inspiration?

My inspiration comes from almost everything I do. I love listening to all kinds of music, watching movies, and talking to people. I also get creative/technical inspirations visiting design/technology blog sites on a daily basis.

  Please list 3 of your favorite sites.

Too many to list, but I visit these sites on a daily basis:

1. TechCrunch

2. FWA

3. CNN

  What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities that were given to me when I was with Design Reactor, but I would have to say my biggest achievement so far has been taking that jump and starting the1stMovement.

  What software couldn't you live without?

Flash, iTunes and notepad

  What projects do you have in the pipeline?

There are some exciting projects in the pipeline, and here are a couple I can actually mention: We are revamping our site, which will launch in October, and are working on an interactive campaign for a new show coming out on Showtime in October.

On the application development side, we are developing a web 2.0/RIA application that we will start licensing in early 2007.

  Who do you rate as being the top 3 design companies?

There are so many great design companies, but I have always enjoyed design work from Hi-Res, Group94 and Fantasy interactive

  What effect on traffic do your new designs have?

It really depends on the project, but more than anything, user-friendly (usable) design will drive traffic and keep users longer on a site

  Who is your target audience?

Again, it depends on the project, but mainly male 18-35.

  What area of web design lacks the most?

Usability. I think it’s still very much a misconception that usability = NOT COOL.

  What did your very first site look like? Is it still online?

It looked horrible, and I wouldn’t tell you even if were still online :)

  Have you written any books, if not do you plan to?

Nope. I am not really good with words.

  What was the toughest thing you ever did with Flash? How long did you spend on it? Is it still online?

The Adobe Acrobat 8 project is not necessary the toughest thing I ever did with Flash, but that project addresses a lot of development hurdles that I have to work through, including cross-domain caching server problems, shared-fonts library, localization, etc..

We spent about 3 months on the project, and yes, it will probably be online until Acrobat 9 comes out :)

  Do you think Flash is here to stay?

Yes. Being an $18 billion company, I’m sure Adobe will do everything it can to keep Flash alive.

  What are your views on design/graphic school. Do you think someone can get into the field without educational experience in a school environment?

I didn’t have any formal graphic/design training, so yes, I definitely think anyone with enough dedication can get into the field.

  When your company was just getting started, what did you find was most effective for getting new clients?

Word of mouth referrals landed us many high profile clients, and a web site that is consistent with your company’s brand doesn’t hurt either.

  How have you learned so many Flash/design skills and techniques and can you offer any advice for newbies?

There are so many sites/forums/mailing lists that offer great tips/tricks to learn Flash.

For me, it’s all about having the opportunity to actually work on a Flash project. Practice makes perfect.

  What is the most expensive thing you've bought in the last week?

We bought a foosball table. Best investment yet so far for our company :)

  What type of overcoat do you wear when Flashing, basically are you a labels man?

It’s too hot in California to wear an overcoat :) but no, I don’t consider myself a labels man. However, I do appreciate a nicely designed bottom-down shirt, and I’m obsessed with sneakers.

  Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

Pick one thing that you want to do, and work your hardest to be the best in it.

  It's been a privilege, thanks very much.

Thanks for having me.